Btooom!

The following review DOES NOT contain any spoilers.

Story: 9
Btooom! follows 22 year old protagonist, Ryōta Sakamoto. Ryōta is one of the world's best Btoom players, an online multiplayer where the objective is to seek out and destroy your opponents using BIMS (bombs). However, after being kidnapped and transported to a secluded island, he is forced to play the game for real.

The story entails a mix of survival and psychological. The story is literally booming with ideas. From the unique BIM variants, to the psychotic inhabitants trying to blow you apart at any opportunity.


Art: 8
In terms of art, Btooom! has a lot going for it. ... The scenery is superbly detailed, and the lighting is magnificent. My only negative comment so far is blood lacks detail.


Sound: 7
The voice acting is what you'd expect from the majority of anime. Unfortunately, the soundtrack isn't anything impressive.


Character: 9
The story has your typically pathetic protagonist that we all hate to relate to. Being a psychological drama, the show is full of gritty characters with rather interesting and unpredictable personalities.


Enjoyment: 10
It's rare to come across an anime with so much to offer it's audience. Explosive action, great characters, and a story that will actually keep you guessing.


Overall: 9
Fans of Mirai Nikki, Gantz and Deadman Wonderland will be in for a treat that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread)

Sometimes the decisions we make aren't always the right ones. During the process, though, we often think that there is zero chance that we are doing could be wrong. But as we all know, "hindsight is 20/20." Most of the time, our choices not only cause a radical affect on ourselves but also on the people around us. Taking this in stride, BTOOOM! is an anime about bombs, psychology, and a host of problems that make the entire experience less than favorable.

STORY

BTOOOM! is a tale involving Sakamoto, one of the best players to play the game the anime ... is titled after. After a small series of events, he finds himself trapped on an island with other people, having to play the game outside of the virtual world.

The pivotal aspect of the show that it explores is the way in which characters interact with one another after being placed into such a situation. Many ideas are brought to light and are put into play: how to trust, and not trust, certain people, learning to cope with hope and despair, and choosing the morally sound decision in a particular situation. A lot of the characters represent these varying sides to a degree, and for the most part, it works. But it's a difficult sell because for most of us it is completely unrelatable. Not just having to fight for our lives; predicaments such as dealing with terrible parents or lying to make events happen in our favor are not things that we've all dealt with. I'm not saying that there aren't people like this, as they certainly do exist, it's just attempting to cover so many bases at once is beyond the show's capabilities.

One major issue that the show has is in the game itself. The issue is that it is too simple. Essentially, it involves two key components: bombs and radar. The show incorporates a sizable amount of different bomb types and some tricks involving the radar. But beyond that, there isn't much to go off of. To combat this, the show tries too hard to make the fights seem too dire. What is presented, then, are a lot of overly dramatic scenarios without much weight behind them. It becomes way too predictable what is going to happen the more the show progresses. And while it tries to be "cool," the lameness of the game and the overly-simplistic battles come off as boring and silly instead.

When it comes to fan-service, I'm not one to complain. I often don't mind if it's there or not. However, BTOOOM!'s use of it is rather strange. On the one hand, certain aspects make sense such as Himiko's sexual assault. On the other hand, certain aspects don't make sense, such as the river scene or later on when she is passed out. These are blatant attempts at showing off her body that were sorely out of place.

At it's core, the premise of the show is quite inane. Basically, any single person can be chosen to be selected for this game for potentially any reason. In other words, it's required of the audience to suspend some belief throughout the show; how the government would allow this, how a gaming company could possibly undertake such an event, etc. The argument here is that for a lot of shows we need to do exactly this. But BTOOOM!'s problem is that it takes itself so seriously that it is quite hard to do. In other words, the show has a huge issue when it comes to being "super edgy." Many instances happen "at the last second" or characters escape "by the skin of their teeth." This happens a lot throughout the show, so at some point you become desensitized to it. At that point, you mostly start to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

ANIMATION

Surprisingly, the art and animation for the show is quite lackluster.

In regards to the art-style, it mostly sticks to foliage and ruined buildings. It all seems appropriate given the setting and the island the cast is placed in. The characters, however, are pretty much cardboard cutouts. In other words, they are not very imaginative; Sakamoto is skinny with brown hair, Himiko is blonde with big boobs, Date is an older gentleman with glasses, etc. These design choices were most likely chosen to coincide with the "mature" vibe the show was attempting to give off, but instead it just makes everyone rather boring to watch.

Animation-wise, the explosions from the bombs, such as the "timers" and the "poisons" are nicely animated, given the subject matter. However, both during and outside of the battles, the animation is rather poor. The show loves to do zoom-ins, single face shots, and jittery camera work. Even when the show gives the close-ups nice detail for the teeth, facial contours, and shading, it usually just sticks to mouth movements instead of eye or facial movements.

CHARACTERS

The psychological aspect to BTOOOM! is at least above average, but the same cannot be said for its characters.

One of the worst characters in the show is Sakamoto. A NEET by day, he is the "10th best BTOOOM! player" in the world. Yet, even after learning what he was thrown into, he acts as one of the dumbest. Even from the get-go, he doesn't understand or even recognize the bombs and the radar that he discovered he had. Alongside being stupid, he generally contradicts himself; he doesn't want to kill people because it isn't the right thing to do, but sometimes he tries to and other times he doesn't. Essentially, it just depends on the situation at hand.

Himiko is a young woman, who is both beautiful and troubled. Early on, she had the potential to be a rather strong character. Her early background and initial time on the island set her up to be someone who could have overcome her trust issues and have her see some actual character development. Instead, the show chooses to place her in this quasi-state of trust and doubt that doesn't make much sense. She starts off hating men, not wanting to believe anything they have to offer. But by the end, rather than having her become independent or strong enough to deal with issues on her own, she relies solely on Sakamoto, the type of person she previously deplored.

The rest of the supporting cast are mainly used to highlight the different psychological aspects detailed earlier: Taira with worry, Date with doubt, Miyamoto with disregarding morality. For the most part, the supporting cast are better than Sakamoto and Himiko (the mains). However, these characters are simply used to showcase their psychological aspects and nothing more. Among all of them, I would consider Taira the best member of the entire cast, but he is quickly cast aside and only taken back into account at the show's conclusion, which is a massive blunder.

SOUND

BTOOOM! suffers a "Mirai Nikki" with its OP, in that the OP somehow outclasses the entire anime. The guitar, roughness of the lyrics, and range of the vocals make it great to listen to.

The ED is supposed to contrast what BTOOOM! offers. Instead of being dark and tense, it is quite light and soft. It does its job well, even if I don't particularly like the song.

The soundtrack for the show is rather forgetful. Nothing notable stands out. The same can be said for the voice-acting. No one in particular does an outstanding job, despite the crazy situations the cast find themselves in.

ENJOYMENT

I didn't know what to expect when going into this one. Honestly, I just thought that the title was kind of hilarious. I didn't expect one bit that the show would look so heavily at the psychology behind such a situation. While perhaps not executed as nicely as something like NGE, I think anything trying to go at least a bit more mature is a good step in the right direction.

Yet, I often found myself cringing during every episode; Sakamoto "marrying" Himiko in the game, Sakamoto jumping sideways during his fight with the young kid, and especially the introduction of the "giant lizards." These parts made me laugh and shake my head all at the same time, because I couldn't believe that the show was making these parts seem "awesome" when in fact they were quite ludicrous.

The show also suffers from a terrible case of continuity issues. A large selection of the scenes depict many near-death-experiences. But the next shots, or at least the explanations behind them, show that they had a lot more time than what is initially perceived. In other words, the anime is trying to make us unfairly feel tension in these moments. I never felt this way during these moments, perhaps because the same trick was used over and over.

I think BTOOOM! had a lot of potential in every department. I'm not sure what happened along the way, but something clearly wasn't done right. Whether this be the world itself being too simplistic or the characters being wholly uninteresting, something better could have been done. Instead, the show activated a "cracker" and forgot to throw it, blowing itself up in the process.

SUMMARY

Story: Bad, the psychology works but everything else doesn't

Animation: Fine, art style fits the show's tone yet the actual animation is lackluster

Characters: Terrible, lame, boring, one-dimensional, or a combination of the three

Sound: Fine, good OP, fitting ED, average soundtrack and VAs

Enjoyment: Fine, has its moments but mired in silliness

Final Score: 3/10

"This is where tomorrow brings a new game. It's time to learn that pain is gain. Ready FIGHT!"

Survival games have been very prominent in Japan. Normally, survival games will involve who gets killed and who will become the last man standing. Some of the survival games like Mirai Nikki, Fate/Zero, Danganronpa and others.

STORY (5):

Ryota Sakamoto is a NEET which stands for Not educated, employed or trained. He plays a new game called BTOOOM! and he became one of the top players. One day, he woke up in a deserted tropical island and he realized that he is trapped in a real-life game BTOOOM with ... other players including Himiko, Ryota's in-game wife.

Each players have a green gem which represents their life and if the gem is removed, the player might die. Basically, it is like a survival game. In order to win, you have to collect all the gems and make it out alive.

Basically, it is your typical survival game.

ART (6):

The animation is good. It portrays a dark and serious tone.

SOUND (6):

I loved the opening song "No pain, no game" while I liked the ending "Aozora". The opening plays like a rock and roll tune. The ending gives a smooth tune.

CHARACTER (4):

The characters are by far the weakest. Ryota and Himiko were predictable. Ryota can sometimes be a badass. Himiko is a typical damsel in distress. Although I sincerely understood her past when rape is a terrible thing to go through.

Kosuke Kira was a tragic character who lived a tragic life in his childhood.

Masashi Miyamoto looks like a soldier with a magenta pirate hat.

Kiyoshi Taira was a good character who helped Ryota and Himiko survive through this game. Although he didn't leave much impression.

So far, it is sad to say that the characters are bland and uninteresting.

CONCLUSION (5):

I didn't enjoy this show a lot but I did appreciate the way how they make use of people being trapped into a virtual game where the only way to win is to be the last man standing.

Even the ending leaves no resolution to the plot. Normally, I see this in most anime I watched. There was no resolution.

That's all I have to say. If you enjoy survival games, you might enjoy this too.

I am giving this anime a 5 out of 10.

That feeling when you get when you realized your life is now fucked up, turned from virtual fun into a bloody reality, and your only chance to survive is to trust in no one (I mean it here) but yourself. With only your disposal – a package of bombs, a strange gem on your hand, and your own intuition, you realize that your life has been changed forever with your new life now residing on a strange island in the middle of nowhere...

So, what should you choose to do?

A) Panic! Scream and hope someone will help you out
B) Try to team up with someone and ... trust in him or her and hope that they will not betray you.
C) Do the opposite of choice B. In other words, when you find the first opportunity, KILL THEM after you've gained their trust
D) Just try to survive. Your life belongs to you and yours only

These all sound pretty horrifying, right? Well, that's Btooom! for you.

Btooom! is survival horror themed anime series based off the manga of the same name. It doesn't take long for the characters in the series to realize their lives have changed forever to be quite honest. The series takes itself from the very beginning and presents a game senario where in order to survive, you must kill seven other people before they can kill you. It's survival of the fittest and it's a every one for themselves.

The basis of the series is actually based off a game from the anime series itself called Btooom. But now, our 22-years old main protagonist Ryota Sakamoto's life has changed forever when he realizes the new situation of his reality. In fact, he used to be an pro gamer from the game itself. However, his new life puts on the edge between survival and death. The difference? It's real. In other words, there's no pause button, no restart, or bonus lives. No, now you're dead, YOU'RE DEAD.

The influence of the series seems to be based off of the classic deserted island theme. Only this time, the island itself becomes a battlefield for survival. And of course, series with themes like this isn't new especially in today's anime industry. Series like Mirai Nikki, Deadman Wonderland, and Gantz all have these themes where survival is absolute. Even in manga series, these themes are present such as Psyren, Mahou Shoujo of the End, and Cage of Eden. The fact is that these series all share a common factor in which an ordinary main male protagonist's lives are changed forever after a certain event. These events turn from peculiar, to dangerous, to tragic, to emotional, and one which will leave a memory in their minds for the rest of their lives.

Those characters/contestants:

Well, it's hard to describe them all but let's look at some of the most prominent ones, shall we? We begin with the main male protagonist -

Ryota Sakamoto. He is a 22 year old young man who has achieved mastery and fame in the Btooom world. In the game, he is ruthless but yet cunning as well as being infamous for his skills. In real life though, he is described as a NEET. In other words, he has almost no life but rather chooses to spent them playing the game. Yet, he is a brilliant, caring, loyal, and courageous young man if we look at him carefully especially during his time of playing the real Btooom game in the anime series.

On the other hand, there's Himiko (also known as Hemilia). She is the main female protagonist with a pair of big boobs but with a small interest in the opposite sex. As a matter of fact, she hates the male population in general for fear of her past. It's for this reason that she carries a stun gun throughout the series as a warning sign to any men who dares to approach her. In her mind, every men in the game (and possibly on the planet) is her enemy and that she is their prey. This is especially true in the beginning episodes where some of flashbacks are shown in a dark fashion.

The other contestants of the Btooom game all have different ideologies, goals, and personalities as we see the series progresses. What they all have share in similarities is their desire to win the game and get off the island. As such, most of them are willing to hurt, betray, and even kill to ensure that their goal is achieved; well, most of them anyways. For people like Kiyoshi Taira, there seems to be hope and friendship. But for others, there exists hatred, dominance, power, and intellect as part of their characteristics.

For example, Kousuke Kira, a young boy at the age of only 14 holds a hatred for his father due to his childhood. It turned him into a child murderer and one that lacks empathy. Then, there's Masahito Date who is willing to do anything to ensure his successes throughout the game and becomes its victor. Then, there are some others who uses their brains rather than their brawns such as Nobutaka Oda who has mastered his usage of the Remote Control type BIM. The point is that every one the island wants to get out of it and return to their lives.

Yet, they know their lives won't be the same again...

The games' concept involves survival and thus, there are some science fiction themes mixed in with the brutality of violence, strategy, and a little bit of luck. After all, a game is never easy when there are others with skills that matches your own. To add to the game, there are the BIMs or bombs that players use as their main weapons of destruction. These bombs all have different abilities that can lead to the death of an opponent. It reflects the science fiction side of the series. The horror side? Those would be some of the flashbacks of the characters as well as the reality of what the players face. They realize that it's not a game anymore and once they're dead, it's game over forever.

Now, the series isn't as good as it sounds. Make no mistake because every survival series has a lack of something that should have been there. In this case, Btooom has them too. The series lacks a diversity in which how the game is played. In other words, there is only bombs that are the primary weapons for the contestants. It does play on its main title as “Btooom!” seems to be synonymous to “BOOM!” That's of course what happens when one of those BIMs goes off and your body splatters. As gruesome as it sounds, the series tries too hard occasionally. Furthermore, the main male protagonist often comes with cases of deus ex machina. It's almost as if he is protected by the “main protagonist should not die” shield. Other problems I've run into the series is that the seemingly rushed sequences. Some of the contestants are killed off in a single episode with little to no screen time given beyond their performance in the game. In other words, they don't stand out as much as the main protagonists. In the end, they're just more like obstacles for them to get by and almost a way for them to “level up” or gain experience in the game.

The artwork of the series is fine but nothing unique. What it does reflect though is the nature of the game of Btooom and its survival themes. These include the abandoned buildings, the tropical forests, the shallow waters, the high mountain cliffs, and other things you typically see on an abandoned island. In fact, most of the characters' outfits reflects this as well in their casual wear and their battle scarred clothing. Most of them are dressed in ways in which they are of themselves which means that none of them were prepared for a real life version of Btooom. And of course, the battlefield has left ashes and bombs going off is usually visually represented with its spectacular explosions. Nothing else is more than that though as I found the artwork to be typical but gets to the point.

The soundtrack of the series is presented with its action paced OST. In most scenes involving action, there is the rhythm. There is hardly any comedic or lighthearted soundtrack in this series as it doesn't fit within those grounds. Yet, it does occasionally have emotional melody especially for flashback scenes of the contestants; more often these are represented as being tragic. The OP song, "No pain, No game" by Nano is a classic for this series. That's right, no pain means no game and in the world of Btooom, there's both of that. On the other hand, the ED song, "Aozora " by May'n is presented in a more soft paced style especially featuring one of the main characters, Himiko.

Ultimately, Btooom is one of those survival horror series that can be enjoyable but at the same time, becomes frustrating with its strange twists. The cliffhangers and occasionally plot twists have become predictable especially in later episodes. At the same time, there is a feeling of explosiveness (more than just the BIMs) when we watch the action scenes. It's not intelligent but packs that feeling of survival horror where your life really is at stake here. In the world of Btooom, it ultimately comes down to how to play the game. If you play your cards right, you'll win. If not, then game over for you and no second chances.

As my expectations for starting the show "Btooom!" were relatively low, running into this action packed Dark Thriller, was actually quite a blast, It is hard to put away, despite the noticeable harsh flaws, it has great character backgrounds, and throughout most of the time, great execution.

Story:10, Like most popular shows recently, it is resolved around a video game. In this show, its resolved around a game called Btooom, a game where you attempt to kill a team of other players with bombs, obviously not sounding very exciting, that quickly jumps into a real life psychological triller death match on a island, leading you to ... feel concern for many of the players at multiple times, leading to a great ride.

Art:8, Not being this shows strong point, the art was actually pretty good, the way they added the Ecchi, in this type of show was where it lacked, and aside from that, the non main character design was poor.

Sound:9, Unlike most masterpieces that can use sound to overly make a show more and more amazing, this show still used Sound in the casual way, for expense, nothing bad to say about it, but i have certainly seen better. At the very least, the Opening Song, is one of the best Opening's I have ever heard.

Character:5, This is the part where this show was lacking the hardest, its not that the characters weren't lovable, or had good backgrounds, its more of the fact, that throughout the series, It was like the characters has the inability to pickup on the most obvious details, this literally make me want to scream.

Enjoyment: 7, This was both a good, and bad. The good coming from a game about bombs, literally turning into a suspenseful dark as fuck, fun ride, I had no expectations for the way the bombs could be used as good fight scenes, during the beginning of the show, but as you get going, you can see, they really did that well.
The problem was the needless fan service and needless rape, now, sure it brought decent backstory's and traumatized the characters in a positive way. but it could have been done far better, to a non aggravating standpoint.

Overall:7/10, Despite the rather mediocre execution, Btooom, was an extremely good marathon, and i would love to see a second season, It's honestly underrated on MAL, and the reasons for that stand out, but at the same time, it has its own personal redeeming factors in the midst of that. The background stories were great, and if future seasons are released, should show greatly in the future.

Final Thoughts: Greatly surpassed my expectations, fun ride, worth even a rewatch some time, and i can't wait for the next season.

FEEDBACK: I would definitely appreciate feedback; it would help me to become a better writer.

#AnimeX

From the summary, I immediately thought that Btooom would be a crossbreed of Sword Art Online (which I watched first) and Battle Royale (live action movie, never read the mangas). As I liked BR a lot and thought SAO was decent, I had some expectations for Btooom, which it spectacularly failed to meet.

And the main reason is that both the protagonists are weak minded fools who become dumber and more useless as the show goes on.

Ryota, the main male protagonist, is a mixture of so many conflicting character traits he is like 3 different people. He is rude and violent towards his parents ... punching his stepdad and driving his mom to suicide with his attitude, yet he is kind and tries to talk to everyone throwing a bomb at him. He is a hypocrite spouting his pacifist routine crap - he wants to leave the game peacefully by collecting 7 chips from people that are dead - conveniently ignoring the dead people that he himself killed part. He is the "best" Btooom player in Japan, yet every fight is a "oh so this IS a bomb, I thought it was another toy" discovery for him. He is a shut-in who forsook the real world for the virtual world, yet the only person who is seeking companionship and acceptance, in of all things, a murder game. Yet the most unbelievable trait he has is that he becomes more and more trusting of people in this game of deceit the more he gets betrayed.

The main female protagonist Himiko on the other hand, is at least consistent - she wants to die instead of being raped, and she retains her fear of men until the last episode. However, she spends the first half of the show wanting to die, and the last half of the show wondering why she hasn't killed herself yet. As for her positive traits - resourcefulness, an experienced Btooom player, an agile and athletic person, possessing an ability to read and distrust the other players Ryota doesn't have, yet she doesn't actually use any of them, and is content with being the background eye candy and letting the party almost die over and over because of her unwillingness to actually do anything. She actually stands willingly without fighting back several times in the story because it is far more tiring to try to live than accepting torture and a slow death.

Both Btooom main characters started and ended the 12 episodes in a gray area of undecisiveness, naivete, hypocrisy, retardedness, an inability to learn anything new, and a severe lack of conviction and willingness to act bordering on suicidal fatalism.

Popular anime with the concept of survival game (example: Mirai Nikki, etc) gave birth to a lot of anime who want to be famous too without changing the concept but change it slightly to create originality.They try to be great as their successor. One of those anime is Btooom! , came from studio Madhouse (king of anime studio) makes this anime has a heavy burden to be displayed. A lot of people expecting Madhouse's greatness, which make Btooom! looks very small in their eyes. Btooom!tells us a story of 22 years old Sakamoto Ryouta, this guy is the top scorer of the game Btooom! placed ... # 10 worldwide ranking. He somehow stranded on an island in the south (The island is somewhere in Indonesia because there are Komodo Dragon in the island). He had a bag with strange equipment (like a bomb), his goal there is to survive a game of death in order to get out of from the island. The concept is the same as the others survival game, they're using some kind of bomb with different types. There is some element of romance in this story that makes this story becomes a little more colorful.

A story definitely has flaws somewhere, no exception in BTOOOM !. Honestly, with this concept Btooom! already able to compete others anime with the excitement that presented in this mind battle.The individual psychological element also exposed pretty well, also the pacing fairly balanced but not perfect. However, this anime has a lot of flaws, one of them is the flashback. It is true, the flashback creates a story or a character more interesting than before. We can know the characters past from there, but the flashback in Btooom! greatly reduce the intense tension that exists and disrupt the plot. There is some fan service anime that came out of it, the bad thing is, they using the main heroine forced to do fan service alone and using it as a plot device. Another downside is the cliff-hanging ending that and not too satisfying, either because of lack of episodes / costs or because the manga still ongoing which makes you all become disappointed because of the ending.

The animation looks very different from other anime, some characters are drawn in a semi-realistic design, but there is some are not and even though there are some people who said that the character designs like-pieces of cardboard, but, at least, it still tolerable. Set in the tropical forest, the environment is very beautiful, shiny, and semi-realistic. The explosion of the bomb and other visual effects are also quite good. In terms of sound, Btooom! above average. Opening song "No Pain no Game" sung by nano is quite popular among fans and really good to hear. There is nothing wrong of how the seiyuu dubbing the characters, and the sound effects are quite adequate.

Flashback is indeed one of Btooom! flaws in terms of the story, but also gives the power to explore the existing character. We have our protagonist Sakamoto Ryouta, a professional video game player and selfish until the massive character development happened to him makes to be more concerned with other people. Our female lead, Himiko also got some character development that could sufficient be seen as the story goes. Furthermore, there is some people who also trapped on the island are getting a little character development. We can see the reason why they can be stranded on the island.

Btooom! may be highly favored by fans but may not be preferred by some people. But if you are looking for a unique battle setting that using strategy, and if you are a fan of survival game, this anime is the right choice for you. Although not great, Btooom! managed to attract its audience with the typical concept.

Videogames, and Anime seem to go hand in hand. A combination of the two should be a perfect union with the similar niche audience they target. There have been several attempts at such a union, and why not? Should be easy enough. For me, though, these shows never quite hit their mark. However I think I've come across one particular show that did - well, mostly.

Story: 7

"Btooom!" as I stated blends the two concepts of Anime and videogames together to form its narrative. Unlike other attempts at this such as "Sword Art Online"/".Hack Sign" "Btooom!" does something different. Instead of bringing the players into ... the game the show brings the game into reality (there is a difference). This works greatly in the shows favor by showing the blurred line between the virtual world, and physical. Anyone who has had a "addiction" to gamming, specifically online, knows exactly what I mean. Having the characters being placed in a game like scenario while staying in reality is just more interesting. The idea of a "survival game" has been done before throughout the medium; so I wouldn't blame someone if they said "the whole idea seems tired at this point", but what "Btooom!" has going for it is its setting. The lush tropical island is ideal for something like this, and is a beautiful paradise filled with danger- human or otherwise. One problem that I had with the show is the jarring fan service. It was just tone conflicting, and destroyed any idea of taking some parts/characters seriously. The show is still a lot of fun, but just seems unsure of itself. Now for the elephant in the room, which is the ending. There isn't one. Of course this is due to the fact that the Anime only adapted a few chapters of the Manga, and not the whole thing (which isn't finished yet). This might be a problem for some people, and I completely understand. I however don't mind seeing as I can just read the rest of the story from the Manga itself, but I thought this was still something worth mentioning. Overall concept is sound, and mostly nails it on the execution. Just some missteps here, and there hold the product back.

Art: 8

The lush, colorful, and vibrant jungle environment is truly something behold. The sandy shores of paradise is animated beautiful by Madhouse. The character designs themselves were handled well besides for a couple of hiccups (referring to Himiko, but more on that later). No real complaints on this end. My eyes were pleased.

Sound: 7

So where the OST is concerned it's a mixed bag. Half of it was pretty damn good where the other was...interesting. I personally enjoyed it, but it had this really awkward roaring sax piece that threw me for a loop by how ridiculous it was. However certain action pieces were kept up with some upbeat music, and played off the scenes nicely. The voice acting was also top notch, and no real complaints performance wise. Not much more to say except damn good job.

Characters: 7

So here is actually one of the best, and worst parts of the show. I'll be breaking this down by focusing on the three main characters: Himiko, Ryouta, and Taira. For the rest of the lot they were a mixed bag of interesting to nonexistent (except for that little kid, sweet Jesus).Anyways so Ryouta is our protagonist for this tale, and I must say I was impressed. Unlike most shows of this breed where the main characters are normal, functioning humans "Btooom!" showcases what people who dive an inhuman amount of time into online gaming actually are like. NEETs, losers, social outcasts, people who make the game their life. Online gaming is used as a sort of escape from ones reality for some. Seeing this represented through Ryouta was refreshing. You usually don't see such a realistic take on a matter such as this in the medium. This is a nice transition actually into talking about Himiko. Himiko is actually the biggest problem with the show. The root of the matter is she helps reinforce the clash in tones that I mentioned earlier. Spoilers aside to be short she has this aversion to men, and has a pretty damn good reason why. The issues are in the writer trying to pull something serious using this character. She is over sexualized to a point where it devalues her character so that us as the audience can't take any of her actions seriously. Slight spoiler, but I will be as vague as possible. There is one instance where a character throws a grenade at Himiko, and it ends up bouncing off of her breast with a jiggle/moan. This is one of many instances where the Author undermines any chance of the audience being able to take her serious. We are left at going strictly by face value, which leaves us with basically just a heroine that Ryouta is meant to conquer. This is a shame actually because I find the relationship between Ryouta, and Himiko to be well crafted. For people who use online gaming to escape from reality these online relationships are the real deal. Starved of social interaction true bonds can actually be found via online gaming, which is why the understanding shared between both characters is a solid base for such a romance to exist. I just wish there was more to her as a character than this relationship with Ryouta, and that any attempt to add more to her is undermined by her being over sexualized. Now with that out of the we finally can talk about Taira. I love this man for being so wonderfully Human. Sadly I can't go to much in-depth without going into spoiler territory, but he was probably the best "character" in the show. He is with Ryouta for the entire journey throughout the short 12 episodes, and adds some much needed context to the situation. His interactions off of Ryouta are downright relatable, and believable.

Enjoyment: 8


I had a ton of fun with this show, and I'd be lying if I said otherwise. The general concept, and the overall execution of the series was really appealing to me. "Btooom!" was actually quite the surprise for me, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Overall: 7.4

"Btooom!" is a very entertaining show with a cool concept, and for the most part pulled it off really well. With a few tone/character issues, and nonexistent conclusion "Btooom!" is held back from being truly great. But despite these complaints I had a damn good time with it, and would recommend it. It was worth the watch, and I'm glad I gave it a shot. As always, thanks for reading.

‘It’s just a game, right?’ – Ryouta Sakamoto

Btooom! is a psychological-action-thriller anime which is set predominately in the serious tone.


The Story: 7/10
------------------
The ‘game-then-not-a-game’ setting in anime has been used quite frequently these past years. They’ve become the main storyline in romances, harems, actions, thrillers and even horrors. Btooom! is another type of example, but it’s the most serious one that makes it different to all the others. The story is set like this: A young adult who plays the game Btooom! suddenly finds himself stranded on a mysterious island equipped with a bag of bombs where they need to kill other people, and take their ... crystals which are embedded on one of their hands so that they can then leave the island. Basically. Each of the episodes were fitted together in a continuous story, with episode two being the sole exception. Occasionally there would be various flashbacks in scenes where Ryouta is being hit with memories which he had forgotten or times where it shows Himiko’s past and how she mainly got there (mainly episode two). The story had a fine mix of complexity and simplicity in where rules would be well defined but hard to catch on to and where plot twists can be predictable but not foreseen. The thriller in this series was definitely there, though- it won’t send you being unable to sleep at night and the psychological aspect of the anime was executed very realistic-ly. The action part of the movie is actually quite good as well, as there was a good amount of scenes to help not keep you bored. There is little romance in this anime, but for what it did it was actually quite fitting for the overall story. The ending is quite satisfying but leaves giving a note to the viewer that there might possibly be a season two. Not exactly ‘cliff-hanger-y’ but enough to make you feel like it could’ve been more.

The Art: 8/10
---------------
The art is substantial for a modern anime, with crisp visual effects and scenes which always seem to be moving. There is always a dark tone which you can feel in every episode- and it stays there for quite a while, adding to the dark psychological part in the anime. Animation panels were fluid throughout the work and didn’t feel ‘blocky’ at all. Background scenes were done spectacularly- they were made with a mood much lighter than what the anime was, and that contradicted sometimes with what the main characters were feeling at that moment which feels a bit strange for the viewer. Character designs were done quite well, with all of them feeling different and each matching the characters own personality and lifestyle.

The Sound: 7/10
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The opening song sets the scene for which direction the anime is going into, though, it’s not particularly special in any way it did a favourable job. Character voice actors fit for the actual cast they were playing. It matched their body type, their personality and even hints about what they were planning and such. Background soundtracks were very fitting for the part they played in the anime- being accompanied by action visuals and stunning explosions which added to the enjoyable factor in this series. The ending theme song is not as particularly as catching as the main opening song, but it leaves you with a very good conclusive feeling to the end of an episode.

The Characters: 8/10
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Each character was well rounded; each of them had a strength and a flaw which could also be a part of that strength. Apart from the usual anime ‘mega jump’ where seemingly life-like characters are able to jump across rooftops and such, none of them really had a super power which made them completely godlike to everyone else. All characters reacted to events in a realistic way. Though, sometimes you really have to wonder if you would do what a member in the cast was doing if you had been in their position. Even so, the reason behind certain things were obscure enough to make you interested and makes you feel engaged in the story, as well as being prudent in the characters engagement with everyone else. Almost every character starts as the most seemingly harmless person in the world. Then, they are met with blood, gore and death. At this point they warp into insanity. In a psychological anime, this is called character development. Antagonists in the anime were just as well developed as the protagonists. Their background is clearly defined and explored as a flashback for the viewer, which shows how and why they were placed into the survival arena.

The Enjoyment: 8/10
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Others familiar to the psychological genre will see this probably as nothing more than the average. For the newcomer perhaps, this anime is quite the inauguration into the style. Btooom! comes personally as one of my most favourite psychological anime. The combination of well done psychology, chilly thriller, excellent fight scenes with a unique fighting style and exceptional character development really gets it in the end.

Overall: 8/10
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The anime itself has a concept that has been drastically overused throughout past years, but even then this one is the most simplest, yet, most complete one with the survival game setting. And for that, I give it a bright, cheerful, rainbow ice-cream sticker.

Ever imagined what happens to Yagami Light if he doesn't pick up the Death Note?

BtOOB! (not a typo), is the story of a 22 year old NEET. 5 years ago, Yagami Light picked up the Death Note, only to find out that it is, in fact, a hoax. As a result of failing to rid the world of criminals, Light's father was buried by the Police forces' busy work schedule. His parents then divorced due to the neglect of the family, with his mother remarrying to another male. In the chaos of the family disputes, Light, bored of life and no longer inspired by ... his father to continue pursuing to be a Police Officer, found himself the MMO BtOOB!.

Present time, Sakamoto (his new surname) Light is the top Japan player for BtOOB!. Being in a totally different family environment allowed him to hone his skills as a gamer, using his innate genius for psychological warfare to rise through the ranks in the MMO quickly.

...and that is the untold synopsis of BtOOB!, which would have made the anime much more awesome if that were true. This anime, in actuality, is disappointing.

BtOOB! (still, not a typo) is a typical island survival series with many problems.
It is a series you might enjoy if you are willing to look pass the fact that :

a) physics in this world is shit.

Right from episode 1, you are introduced to bombs that explode RIGHT IN YOUR FACE, but yet are unable to scathe you in anyway unless it is convenient for the plot. The characters in this show prove themselves to be super human, as you often see them escaping bombs at point-blank that are shown to blow off the walls and entire floors, without a scratch. Despite being a NEET, Sakamoto has seemingly unlimited stamina and is able to perform athletic stuns that even normal people can't do. Like, jump off a wall to a hole in the ceiling and climb up. Then use one hand to pull a full grown woman off the lower floor!
Also, BIM that bounces off BOOBs.

b) ALL the names of side characters and antagonists come from olden days Japan, because the only way to find names for them is to look through a Japanese history book

GAME TIME! Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Btooom! and look at the list of antagonist and side characters. NOW GUESS WHICH JAPANESE HISTORICAL FIGURE IS HE/SHE?
Answers:
Taira Kiyoshi ----> Taira no Kiyomori
Masashi Miyamoto ---> Musashi Miyamoto
Nobutaka Oda -----> Nobunaga Oda
Masahito Date ---->Masamune Date
Hidemi Kinoshita ----> Toyotomi Hideyoshi (also known as Kinoshita Tokichiro)
Kinoshita + Hide
Yoshiaki Imagawa -----> Yoshimoto Imagawa
Yoshihisa Kira ----> Shimazu Yoshihisa
Anime char is father of Kosuke Kira, so he changed the
surname to fit.
Mitsuo Akechi ----> Many from the Akechi clan, all names go by
Mitsu(insert) Akechi
Shiki Murasaki ----> Shikibu Murasaki (only character with different Kanji)
Isamu Kondo ----> Isami Kondo
Misako Hojo -----> Masako Hojo
..... and the list goes on. Characters are given these names for absolutely no reason, nor is the setting in anyway related to these historial figures. No references to the lives of these historical figures were made, so we can only assume that the Japanese history books were the author's sole source material to create names. In which case, i am interested to know the name of his/her children, considering that the author's Surname is the same as the Inoue clan.

c) Despite being a psychological game, characters are stupid and tricks used are too simplistic to be interesting.
Placed in a survival island, you would expect to see psychological tricks similar to those seen in Death Note. Especially when interesting varieties of BIMs are introduced. Poison gas BIMs are shown to destroy large quantities of forest life and corrode whole human bodies, but the only strategy shown was ''throw it there! the wind is blowing that way!''. Remote control bombs are present,
but where they are placed make you question the intelligence of the character. (Seriously, under a pile of wooden planks that stands out in an abandoned building?) Even the basic impact-exploding BIM feels useless due to the fact that characters are never hurt unless it works for the plot.

Many other problems can be found in this anime. Truthfully, it was only enjoyable because of the many problems it had, and i'm tired of listing them after the above wall of text. It is like playing ''spot the mistake'', but over 12 25 minute episodes.

NOTE: Although it’s not my first time writing a review, I’m still inexperienced with it (with this review being my first spoiler-free review), so please bear with me.

When I heard that Btooom! was going to get an anime adaptation, I got so excited about it, being a fan of the manga. Although I’m not a fan of it since the very first chapter, I could say that I’ve been a fan long before the news about its anime adaptation was announced, having read the manga for the first time when Chapter 13 was just released by the scanlators. The idea of people fighting and killing ... each other in an uninhabited place for survival might not be original (think Battle Royale), but having an in-game video game turned to a worst case scenario of a dog-eat-dog world feels fresh. So, how does the anime fare compared to the manga? Quite nice; in fact, it’s very good…although not without faults of its own.

Despite the anime’s length, it’s more or less faithful to the manga. It’s very accurate for a 12-episode anime covering the manga’s first 50 chapters (with the last few of them released in a monthly basis), not counting the credits portion of the 12th episode showing a portion of the 51st chapter. Because of that though, the anime has the action compressed in a single episode, with story arcs lasting for only a few episodes. And despite that, some filler parts were added, although for necessity, as the producers would need to air some material at the episode’s remaining minutes. Perhaps, if the adaptation was given 20+ episodes instead of 12, it would’ve explained the story (and the characters’ back stories) in more detail.

As for the art, well I can’t say anything bad about the art actually, as it’s quite close to the manga’s. Okay, maybe except the dye job that Ryouta got, with his hair turning to black from brown-black, but it’s nothing major. The graphic scenes in the manga (involving murder, rape, and of course, dead bodies) were considerably toned down in the anime, most likely to make it more TV-friendly. Not that I have anything against it, but I would find it better if they didn’t do a significant amount of content dilution. But then again, doing that would make the anime have more censored scenes than it already has (which is two scenes, throughout the series).

People who like similar anime to this would surely enjoy Btooom!, and the long-time fans would still enjoy the adaptation, if they don’t mind the content distillation.

As a warning, I'm just going to start out with saying anime was pretty bad, and it really didn't even have an ending at all.

Story: 4
The overall concept of Btooom!'s story sounded really cool, and was the sole reason I decided to give it a try. It was a great show idea, and had so much potential, but that's really the only thing keeping the story's rating from dropping below a 4. There were no surprises in the plot, and any questions you may have had were given away within the first few episodes. From then on, it was more or less bland battles where ... characters tried to "outwit" each other with bombs, a lot of drama, and a lot of complaining.

But despite the predictability and slow scenes, the worst part of the entire plot had to be the underlying messages that were practically stuffed down your throat the entire time. This show is dripping with misandry. Every chance it got, it highlighted the wrongdoing of men, and portrayed them all as disgusting pigs without self control. Even the main hero, who clearly had high morals, was "tested" and almost lost control when he came in contact with panties. It felt very out of place, was uncomfortable to watch, and got to the point where it was out of control sexist.

Art: 6
To be fair, the art wasn't too bad. It's an interesting style, and better than a lot of anime out there. It also used a lot of diversity between the characters, which was nice. However, there were a lot of panels where the character's faces were really out of whack. And for an action anime, the animation was really plain.

Sound: 5
Complimenting the bland art, was the bland music. There wasn't anything special about it. The opening and ending soundtracks were okay. The background music was a little less okay.

And the voice acting was even worse. I only watched the dubbed version, but I can almost guarantee you'd be better off watching the original Japanese. I'm a fan of loose translation when it comes to dubs, because the lines just never sound natural when the translation is too direct. But Btooom! falls really short of this, and most of the character's would say awkward sounding things. Certain words they used just didn't fit into their sentences. It was pretty bad.

Character: 2
But this was by far the worst part of the entire anime. Not only did the characters have absolutely no growth, but they were all absolutely awful to begin with. Just the two main characters alone made me cringe.

I don't generally have a problem with the 'damsel in distress' role, but they went a little overboard with it in Himiko's case. There was almost never a moment when she decided to take action, except for the several times she decided suicide was probably her best option. Other than constantly needing assistance, her only other purpose in the show was to be stuffed into the stereotypical tsundere trope. I usually like those kinds of characters, but again, they took it a little too far. She never, ever stopped yelling, crying, slapping Ryouta for being a "pervert", and generally just saying obnoxious things. It was really out of place in an anime with such serious underlying tones.

Ryouta was no better. I was very confused with his character. On one hand, in all his flashback's he was portrayed as this angsty teenage boy who was rude to his mom and pretty much an asshole altogether. But on the other, while on the island he did nothing but try to help the other players. His thoughts were always super moral, and kind. There was no amount of time between being at home and being on the island where this change in personalities would have made any sense.

Enjoyment: 4
This anime was riddled with dramatic irony, and at times it was incredibly frustrating to watch because you knew something the characters did not and it should have been SO OBVIOUS, but it literally took them an entire episode or more to figure it out. And of course, when they finally had the moment of realization, they were painstakingly slow to react.

However, some of the fight scenes had pretty cool angles, which was definitely entertaining. And I can't write off that it was a little fun to see who would die next.

Overall: 4
Overall, this was a less than mediocre anime, and I do not recommend it. Honestly I don't even know why I finished it, and I will not be re-watching.

Here comes yet another show about some waste of life who does nothing but playing videogames all day, and is all of a sudden thrown in a life or death situation, where we are supposed to cheer for him, despite being a total jerk. It’s about a videogame that is something between Counterstrike and Bomberman, getting real after the protagonist is sent to fight other players. Then it becomes Battle Royale in a Predators setting, meaning, a bunch of people that need to kill each other, sent via parachute to a remote tropical island. And yes it sounds interesting at first, until you see how ... silly it plays out.

You obviously need some suspension of disbelief when watching a fictional work, but this anime is constantly begging you to point your finger at it and yell THAT CAN’T HAPPEN. The laws of physics make absolutely no sense. When a bomb explodes right next to you, you will be hurt from the noise, the shrapnel, and the shock wave no matter how many times you flip in the air. Also, an explosion has a radius of several meters and is definitely way more than just a few square centimetres around it. So imagine how silly it looks when a dozen bombs explode all around the protagonist and he remains perfectly fine, even when he is a sitting duck. Of course this weird phenomenon occurs only for the protagonist, while everybody else dies in one hit.

It is impossible to be immersed in the series, and it’s not because lots of improbable things keep happening. One of my favourite anime is Hokuto no Ken where people explode like balloons and the script is full of nonsense. The thing that makes all the difference between that and BTOOOM is that it never tries to make a distinction between reality and fiction. They never say “That is a videogame and is fake, while this is a death game and is real. When you make separations like these, it’s like you are demanding from the viewer to think about it, thus making it far easier to spot the improbabilities and realize the so called "real" death games, are as fake as playing a videogame.
- When someone gets blown up to pieces, you can take his remaining bombs that miraculously don’t blow up along with him. Sweet, extra ammo from enemy drops, this videogame is nice... Oh wait, this is not a videogame but a realistic death game… Supposed.
- When you throw a videogame controller at a wall, it is the plastic controller that breaks and not the brick wall.
- Each player has a sonar device on his hand that allows him to know where the others are. The sonar is cancelled if someone else is using it at the exact same time. The chances of that happening are one in a thousand since the margin of error is less than a second and yet the protagonist pulls it off ten times in a row, while running.
- His opponent doesn’t need the sonar in order to find the protagonist, since he is running around him while making noise as he passes through thick foliage. He may not see him but he can clearly hear him. The show wants you to believe he is deaf.
- Most of the bombs are using fringe science and thus costs a fortune. Adding to the expenses the costs of sending messages to those that want people abducted and transferred to the island, while keeping the whole thing completely secret from public, means that they waste the annual budgets of a dozen major countries, just for the entertainment of a few rich people.
- Continuity errors such as people disappearing for no given reason, or teleporting instantly to impossible places.
- Giant man eating lizards appear out of nowhere. Because WHY NOT?
- Constant flashbacks from just a few episodes ago, to waste time and further remind us of all the stupid things in this show.
- And add to all that, the story is left incomplete, so nothing is really resolved.

Since the script is so bad, the characters suffer from it as well. It would be interesting to see how each of them would react in a life or death situation, but because of the videogame logic the show uses, it makes them act stupid and the drama surrounding them doesn’t work one bit. The protagonist for example is being rewritten every 5 minutes. It’s impossible to tell what his personality is, since he acts completely different in every scene. And no, it’s not because he adjusts to the situation he is in; he LITERALLY becomes a different person depending on how the plot wants him to behave.
- Throwing bombs at defenseless players who don’t even try to fight back does not prove how great of a player the protagonist is.
- In one scene he knows how to use bombs, in another he doesn’t. He realized how a timer bomb works only five times after he tried it, even though he was playing the game for years.
- In one scene he is anti-social and angry, in the other he is very social and polite.
- In one scene he acts as a leader figure, in the other like a dork who can’t even walk without tripping.
- In one scene he is cunning and sets traps to his opponents, in the other he gets surprised when he witnesses the exact same trap being used on someone else.
- A NEET like him can’t possibly be so athletic. He was doing nothing but sitting in his house for years and yet can outrun or counterattack instantly people with far greater stamina and skills than him. It may have worked in a videogame by pressing buttons really fast, but in reality he wouldn’t be able to run for 5 seconds without getting exhausted.

In a similar way, every other character has two lines of a personality, and even those are presented in an extreme way. They are all way too evil, or way too stupid, to the point they are indeed like videogame caricatures and not real people taking part in a real death game.
- The deuteragonist for example is a sexy blonde school girl, which makes all people around her to wanna rape her on first sight. She is also accidentally the one the protagonist is married to in the game, something which is so easy to happen in REAL life. She is the main source of fan service and the animators never miss the chance to zoom on her privates. As for her personality, it is also rewritten based on the demands on the script. She is supposed to be afraid of men, unless the plot says she needs to trust them right away, so they can betray her. Then she will not trust men thereafter, until the plot needs her to trust them immediately once more.
- The protagonist’s mother was the one who wanted her son to be sent to the death game because he was mean to her. Because that is what parents do when their kids are impolite; they send them to be killed in some sadistic game instead of seeking help from any one of the thousands of humanitarian organizations out there.
- The blond chick on the other hand was chosen by her best friends. There was an incident where they got raped, but she escaped, called the police, caught the rapists, and saved their lives. As thanks, they believed she should have stayed and gotten the same treatment like the best friend she was supposed to be, instead of the UNFORGIVABLE act of not letting them die by doing nothing. That makes sense.

I almost feel sorry of all the money studio Madhouse wasted on making this thing. I can place it next to Death Note in terms of atmosphere and cinematics. Many secondary characters have some really ridiculous pitches to their voice, that made them sound very retarded, but other than that it looks great and makes you wish that was the only thing which was bad in this show. It is just another stupid anime ala Deadman Wonderland or Future Diary. Just nonsense and edgy violence for low tier pop corn entertainment. And it fails even at that because it keeps telling you it is not a videogame but a REAL death game.

Btooom! An old idea with a twist.

First person shooters such as Modern Warfare as well as Halo have been around since the turn of the century. However, even with guns, grenades and carepackages, none have ever decided to remove the most essential element of the games- GUNS.

If I had to explain what it would be like it would be somehow be similar to Ice cream without ice or chocolate cake without cake. However, it is not as bad as it sounds.

Story-8

As you know, it is a survival game where only bombs are used. There is a set limit to the number of bombs and they ... need to discover how to use it, the rules of the games and what kind of player they want to be. However, not everything is as simple as it looks as the players are no longer playing for fun, but instead, their lives.

It quite a unique, fun and enjoyable plot. There are many elements to a survival game that I dislike however the goods rule over the bads. It is still possible to enjoy the storyline and it isn't mindless killing.

Art-7

It is good/ok art but for some reason I always see the characters a bit weird and think they look a bit off. Everything else such as the background or effects/ battlescenes are quite nice.

Sound-9

The voice acting is quite nice and the background music fuses with the scenes for a more pleasant experience.

Character-8

The characters all have unique traits and have doubt, guilt and suspicion. However, I always seem to find the characters a bit too slow and dislike the fact that they are so hesitant and end up in sticky situations because of it. however, it benefits the plot and increases the character development and strengthens relationships.

Overall-9

This is definitely a worthy watch if you like watching warfare and survival type game anime. There is some strategy involved but only about as much as there is in a first person shooter (camping, aiming for the head, scope etc.). If you do not like blood and gore you should not watch it as deaths do occur. However, if you are on the border you should definitely at least give it a shot and you just might like it.

Thanks for reading my review! Please send me a message if you spotted an error or something.

As a reader of the manga, I came into watching the Btooom! anime expecting alot. When I heard it was being made into an anime I was ecstatic.

The thing about Btooom! that worried me the most was, nowadays, there are alot of "I'm in a video game!" anime out there, so for the anime Btooom! to come out now was pretty risky. But, since Btooom! isn't actually in a video game, it strays from the norm, and presents us with something new and exciting. Btooom! story wise, does have a video game undertone, but also has the psychological thrilling side like Battle Royale.

I ... always like it when anime has alot of blood and gore in them, and Btooom! definitely has it's fair share. The story basically has to do with blowing each other up to survive, obviously I'm not going to tell you the whole plot, so if the explosions didn't blow people's limbs off, or even blow people up completely(which happens), then this anime would not be worth watching.

The characters are great in Btooom!, and the characters are honestly the best thing in Btooom!. Characters ranging from murderers, rapists, otakus, NEETs, businessmen, and normal people like highschoolers, are trapped on the island fighting for their lives. The many professions or backgrounds of the characters really makes it interesting to watch this show, and it keeps you engaged every time they introduce a new character. Probably the best thing about this show is the main protagonist. His name is Ryouta Sakamoto, he is a NEET, and is ranked in the top 10 in the world in the Btooom! video game. It is difficult to find a good main character, but Ryouta definitely fits the bill. He is definitely confused at first, and kind of dumb, but that is explained. Since the survival game is based on Btooom!, he has greater knowledge than most other contestants, which makes him a force to be reckoned with. His character is progressively getting more smart and cunning, which is one aspect that makes a good mc.

Another good aspect about Btooom! is the realism. The notion "I'm gonna kill you, cause I want to survive", is portrayed perfectly, and even though not all the characters think like that, it is still really great to see characters who do think that way. Although there is some rape, which is kind of disturbing, I do think that if they didn't have the rape, then some of the character's back stories wouldn't have been as impactful. I'm not trying to turn people away from this anime, I'm just trying to say that if you can see past the disturbing parts, then you will definitely enjoy this anime.

All in all, this anime is not for the feint of heart. As a Btooom! manga reader, I think that you can believe me when I say that this is a must watch this season, if you are looking for a gory story-driven seinen anime. I haven't seen the whole anime, obviously, so I don't know what my final score will be, but right now it stands firmly as a 7(which on my scale is above average).

Now the anime has ended, btw its a good thing the said apocalypse didn't come true , how did I rate it????????????????I rated every category a 6. So why give it a devil's number? Well, the thing about this anime, is that it gave me more of a mix reaction to it, it something like a that you can't appreciated it fully and you can't hate it totally. Ok so what we have here is an anime whose theme is a mixture of your typical on-line FPS game and it's plot basically has a lot of combined similarities from the movie ... "The Condemned" and "The Hunger Games" which people where sent into some hellish contest where it is a matter of life or death. However the director of this anime, Kotono Watanabe's method of killing were too lame, e.g. a stab from Date's back with a sickle would have already damage his spinal cord, puncture his lungs and cause sever bleeding, instead he was able to move around like he only have a scratch, beside don't we the audience wanna see him suffer an agonizing dead? Here are other lame killing facts in which studio Madhouse should have considered:

1. Komodo dragons, usually do not stalk their prey after they've bitten them, usually when a prey was bitten the komodo dragon simply just follow the scene and it takes 2 weeks before the prey dies of infection from the dragon's bite, dragons tend to stay away from humans, in fact most encounter are usually accidental, also these big lizards are also scavenger which means that the will also eat the carrion and human corpses. Oh, and some people do consider the Komodo dragon a delicacy, in fact some people in Komodo Indonesia did one time hunted these big lizards for food.

2. The Homing BIM should have 2 counter rotating propellers, now, I'm no physicist, but it is a fundamental law that every hovering aircraft be it a toy, a gadget should follow. It is the same principle as a Helicopter.

3. In order for a corrosive-BIM to be effective on a 6 block radius, the amount of sulfuric acid that should be used would around 30,000 gallons.

4. If someone has to have all 4 fingers cut away simultaneously that person would die from a loss of blood unless the cut fingers were cauterize immediately. And to have one's hand blown up would also kill a person due to massive blood loss so it is quite odd that Shiki was able to survived after loosing her hand from a self inflicted explosion.

Most of the characters in this anime represent the everyday people whom we know or whom we encounter that we either don't like, don't get along and those that we wanna get even with, which we wish that they go to hell, like:

Kiyoshi Taira: a boss from hell.

Masashi Miyamoto: a toughie, a war freak and a criminal.

Nobutaka Oda: Sakamoto's classmate and a typical asshole.

Masahito Date: a malpracticing doctor.

Hidemi Kinoshita: a typical everyday bitch.

Kōsuke Kira: a delinquent.

Mitsuo Akechi: a sex perv.

Sōichi Natsume: a defense lawyer in which the police and people seeking justice would love to hate.

Himiko: The campus scapegoat, in which she wasn't suppose to belong in hell.

Ryōta Sakamoto: a good for nothing NEET and if I were her mom, I won't even hesitate to nominate him as a way to kick him off the house.

The enjoyment and overall of this anime maybe a bit lame on the action side but still this is one lame action pack anime that is still worth watching, but not something that deserves a high rating, then again it is also something that should not have a low rating as well. Mainly because Madhouse studio focuses more on the evil of man that the blood and gore. So overall this anime is fairly entertaining. If any of you don't get how I've rated every category of this anime, the here it is again:

Story: Fair 6.

Art: Same

Sound: Same

Character: Same rating as the first one.

and so does the enjoyment and overall.





Ya know if such thing like that does happen in real life then there will be one MAL user in which I'll make a placement for him/her to be nominated to go to that kind of hell. Then again he or she ain't worth it.

Despite Moral Values which are supposedly instilled in all human beings, Violence and Lust are two sensations that will always be prevalent no matter how much of a saint you claim to be. Taking the violence route, deathmatches are activities that people enjoy watching to appease this sensation, however since this activity is not something that is practiced in a modern world anywhere, most shows like Mirai Nikki for example will try to involve some sort of supernatural event to give the story more depth. Therefore it was with great surprise when I stumbled upon btooom and discovered it threw away such ethics and ... presented itself as a genuine real-world deathmatch, but without this monumental backing, is it something to take seriously?

Sakamoto Ryouta is an unemployed 22 year old who spends most of his time alone at home playing the popular online game btooom, which is an online MMO where players use bombs to battle each other. With his skill he has risen to the status of one of the 10 best players in the world. However, one day he awakens to find himself on an island and later on discovers the island is a real world representation of his popular btooom game, with playing the game in real life his only chance of escape. On the surface, the story of btooom seems a bit…silly, attempts at indulging a friend will have them questioning the very concept of the show, ‘a deathmatch using bombs’ isn’t something that is assured to strike a fancy with most people, however if you should give the show a chance you’ll soon discover it falls under the ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ category.

The rules, mechanics and strategies in btooom unlike the story are actually very well thought of. Firstly we have different types of bombs, the series encourages the use of strategies and an impressive aspect is how a player has to choose his strategy depending on what type of bomb they possess, players have to switch between stealth, guerrilla or trap tactics and even sometimes deception, and most times choosing the right tactic may be the difference between life and death. Players also have surgically attached to their hand a sonar system that when used gives them the ability to detect other players over a certain distance, an impressive fact about this is that you can only detect a moving player, a motionless player will not be detected by the sonar but in turn the player who uses this ability will be detected by other players within its range, motion or motionless. This places the heavy burden of decision making and also brings forth the idea of taking a gamble in order to survive, so players ultimately have to decide whether an action is worth it or not before taking it, a great deal of rationalism is required.

As mentioned earlier, btooom’s choice of presenting itself in a modern world setting with a slight emphasis on the reality that it is an event that could take place in real life may be its undoing. The series gives us a weak excuse as to how and why they ended up on this island and when viewed from a different angle it won’t be wrong to view the story as a weak idea of giving us a reason to watch people kill each other. However if you were to overlook the weak story introduction, btooom has some interesting concepts.

In order to leave the island however, a player must gather 8 chips surgically attached to each player and can only be removed when a player dies. This revelation ultimately encourages alliances but the real interesting question the story poses on the players here is; who do you trust? We all know that humans are quick to betray and go for the easy way out and this aspect of the show although not playing too big of a role as it should have, didn’t disappoint. The show introduces the players to us as everyday individuals but it showed very little of the psychological strain brought about by their situation. It did indeed showcase this initially but the characters seem to accept the reality of their situation too quickly and move on while any normal person might breakdown from the experience.

The art style used in btooom is very good indeed, as expected of powerhouse studio madhouse, the art is very dark as expected to depict the nature of the show and the quality hardly drops for even a second. Character design is also done very well with art style similar to shows like deathnote, all the characters look wonderful and through the art one can already spell out any future intentions a character may harbor. Animation was also quite decent; those of you who will slow motion play an explosion of a bomb will be impressed at the reality of the visuals. The most important factor in the animation aspect of the show is the timings of the bomb, being a manga adaptation, we only see a bomb thrown in one panel and exploding the next but in the anime, timing is an essential issue and it wasn’t something that was slacked on. However there are times when the countdown is slower than usual thereby giving our protagonists the chance to make some last second escapes, a deux ex machine from the animators. The blast range of the explosions also seemed to be disproportional a times, as a bomb of the same type will cover a large blast range in one scene but a smaller one in another.

Nano sings the OP theme titled ‘no pain, no game’, an upbeat j-pop song that went well with the mood of the show. The ED entitled ‘Aozora (blue sky)’ by May’n is a slow paced j-pop song that seemed out of place for a show that showcases people trying to end each others lives. Sound effects especially that of the explosions were done well with seemingly tiny variations between the type of bomb used, the sound of the sonar in particular I found to be quite resourceful.

The characters in the show seemed to lack depth, the series was unable to instill in its viewers a reason to care about them even when thrown in dire situations, it did try to show us a bit of their past but it was mostly an afterthought that did very little to explain why and how they behave in the present. Our protagonist, Ryouta is your average shut-in who believes the whole world is as is viewed on the internet. As such when thrown into this situation he still holds this strong sense to do right and also easily has faith in others and quick to trust, although this quality of his may tend to be a slight annoyance as he puts his faith in people who obviously wish to cause him harm. Himiko, our female protagonist was introduced to us as a school girl with a dark past, the series went a bit overboard to demonstrate to us the harshness of the island as himiko is more than once subject to lustful intentions of some male players in the game and some female viewers may find themselves unhappy with this addition.

Although it had a somewhat weak story telling initially we can’t deny it has a sense of originality and despite its adopted antics from a few video game mechanics it still manage to feel fresh. If you’re looking for a deathmatch anime, there are better choices but btooom is definitely amongst one of the decent ones. In my opinion though, btooom may have been released for the wrong media type, it is indeed a decent anime but with a few improving of storytelling concepts and certain mechanics, just as depicted in the anime, btooom would have made a wonderful video game.

I found this anime searching for something like Sword Art Online and this one was one of the top recommendations an many sites. I have to say that it's very different from SAO, it's more like The Hunger Games because the action takes place in the real world.

I sincerely don't know why Btooom is not so popular because it has a pretty interesting story with different types of characters and the animation is really good. As I don't want to give any spoilers I will just say that the game follows the rule "Kill or be killed.", so the participants need to kill other ... 7 participants in order to get off the island. The only weapons they have are different types of bombs so you have to be smart enough to have a strategy and know how to use them.

The characters are ok. Ryouta, the main character is a smart 22 year old who is used to using the bombs, he's caring and a good person but this feature becomes annoying at times because he puts his faith in other competitors without knowing anything about them while all they want is to get kill him and survive. However, I didn't really like Himiko. In the beginning, when she first meets Ryouta she is presented as a strong badass bitch (which is a good thing), but as the series go on she becomes soft and turns into a completely useless scared girl, letting Ryouta do all the job to keep them alive. Still, she helps him a lot but I really wish she had more confidence in herself.

The anime was very short, only 12 episodes, but at least it wasn't boring at all. The ending is open, they could easily make season 2 because lot of things are yet to happen. I kinda felt that when the anime was over, the real action was about to begin. Although I don't think there will be a second season, I'll keep my hopes. Btooom wasn't truly a masterpiece, so I rated it 9/10. It had some "glitches", but that's all I am going to say. You have to watch it to really understand what I'm saying.

When I watch an anime...I never compare them too other anime or related games..... I only judge on what i can see and my own feeling towards the series

Although the title seems a bit...childish....the poster seems interesting(most of the fan i know choose anime base on cool poster...lol)

a beautiful girl and a cool hero...

The character designer did a very good job.....the characters are beautiful and cool..

the director and writer also did a wonderful job in introducing the characters and gist of the game....the action sequence is exciting.....and in my opinion the development of the hero and heroin romantic relationship...is welll plan.... not ... too fast and not too slow....

I think that the production team were not given enough episode to fully tell their story... it is a pity that there are no 2nd season..... maybe if they were able to have a few more episode, the series would have made a better impression on the viewers.

I couldn't find any other anime that uses bomb as their fighting tools...so i consider this series is unique and original(if you can forget about the game).

I think that the series is worth watching and you will enjoy it very much
however, the ending will be a bit disappointing as i feel that there are no closure.

watch it and have fun

So this is my first serious review, and the only reason I'm doing it is because this show was so good it drove me to write one as I feel like none of the other present reviews quite explain or appreciate the depth of this show.

Story: 9/10
So I know that the videogame-turns-real-life idea has been used quite a bit but never in this way, btooom uses several unorthodox things to develop character and storyline. I'm going to say something that is going to sound very strange. The rape in btooom is amazing. Now I sound like a psycho but I mean it in a ... different way, what I mean is that the social stigma we call rape is displayed amazingly in btooom, it is brought about by male sexual urges and instincts, in an environment where no rules exist males are shown oppressing the weaker females in the show, this develops a strong character with Himiko (one of the main characters) as her life even prior to the game was destroyed by sexual assault and male lust. Now my favourite part about this is that Himiko has become fearful of all males and cannot trust anyone, but our trusty protagonist is the absolute image of what is just even among chaos, he stands out above the rest as a shining example of humanity and morality. The juxtaposition of the protagonist and his environment is drastic and constantly displayed. Other things to note about this plot is that it is certainly unfinished and it is absolutely FULL of cliffhangers and it is quite possible for you to dislike the ending because it leaves so much for the second season (which I really want).

Art: 9/10
The art in this show is really good, only thing I would complain about would be the digital painting on some of the bush backdrops, I'm a digital painter myself and I can tell that they didn't spend enough time on them. Other than that, high framerate, cute girls, good breasts and good explosions.

Sound: 10/10
Sound is where this show stands out again, amazing OP and good ED with really upbeat and hyper drum and bass tracks for the fights. Also the sounds of the explosions are done really well. As far as voice acting goes I think they did a great job as the protagonist sounds great along with the girl and the scenes of crazy people spouting mental stuff sounds like they're actually mental.

Character: 10/10
The characters in this show are VERY complex, mainly concerning the protagonist and the girl. The girl's side is riddled with her past experiences of sexual assault while the protagonist's is more to do with him being violent and ungrateful nerd who doesn't appreciate what has been done for him. The interactions between these two is what makes the show what it is. I can't think of a more beautiful romance than with a girl who is afraid to open her heart for such reasons, and it being overcome by such a protagonist.

Enjoyment: 10/10
Thoroughly enjoyable. Great plot, amazing characters, deep themes concerning human instinct and modern human values.